Alexander GovorovSports correspondentAll materialsThe Russian men's biathlon team fought desperately for the maximum quota for the Beijing Olympics, which allows six people to enter the Games. When it seemed that happiness was so close, our biathletes suddenly failed the most important race of the season. What does this mean in the context of the team's chances at the Olympics?The sprint in Ruhpolding decided everythingBefore the start of the season, it seemed that the men's team would not achieve any maximum quota. To send six people to the Games, it was necessary to be in the top three in the Nations Cup at the end of the World Cup stage in Ruhpolding. Norway and France were in any case out of reach for the men's team. But in theory it was possible to catch up and overtake Germany and Sweden. But this is only in theory. All those scandals and intrigues that enveloped the Russian biathlon in the offseason did not give hope for a brighter future. And it took and came. Our guys suddenly started churning out medals and great performances. And after a super-successful stage in Oberhof, the gap from the third-placed Germans was reduced to 55 points. There were two races in Ruhpolding, which went into the standings. This is a sprint and a relay. The first in the schedule was the sprint race. Russia and Germany have similar problems. Team leaders Eduard Latypov and Johannes Kühn were unable to compete after testing positive for the coronavirus. The situation leveled off. The task was simple and complex at the same time. The results of the three best athletes from each country were included in the sprint standings. The beauty of the team of Yuri Kaminsky and Sergey Bashkirov is that absolutely any biathlete can «shoot». Therefore, the intrigue had to last until the very end.
